The Call I Shouldn’t Have Answered.

Davis’s POV

I stood outside Rebecca’s locked bedroom door, staring at my hand.

I could still feel the strange jolt that had passed through me when our shoulders touched. It had lasted only a second, but my wolf was still restless, pacing inside me as if I had done something terribly wrong by letting her walk away.

What the hell was that?

I had touched women before. I had kissed women before. I knew what attraction felt like, and I knew the pull of a fated mate. Harper was supposed to be that woman.

But Rebecca’s touch had felt different.

For one crazy second, I had wanted to pull her closer instead of letting her run away from me. I had wanted to open that locked door, look into her green eyes, and find out why she looked at me as if I had broken her heart.

My phone rang before I could knock again.

I glanced at the screen.

Harper Arquen.

I answered, grateful for the distraction. “Hey, Harper.”

“Davis?” Her voice came through the speaker. “Are you okay?”

I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You sound strange.”

“I just woke up.”

“It’s not even morning yet.”

I looked at the clock on the living room wall. “Then why are you calling me?”

She laughed softly. “I wanted to hear your voice. Is that a crime now?”

“No, but you usually have something important to say when you call this early.”

“Fine. I wanted to ask how the university is treating you.”

“It’s fine.”

“And your apartment?”

I glanced at Rebecca’s closed door. “It’s a disaster.”

“What happened?”

“The housing office made a mistake. They gave my apartment to someone else, and now I’m sharing it with Rebecca Browns.”

The silence on the other end lasted longer than I expected.

I pulled the phone away from my ear to check whether the call had dropped. “Harper?”

“I’m here.”

“You sound like I just told you the building caught fire.”

“I’m surprised, that’s all.” Her voice had changed. “How is Rebecca taking it?”

I leaned against the wall. “How do you think? She looks at me like she’d rather jump out of a window than spend five minutes in the same room with me.”

“Has she always been like that with you?”

I thought about the party, the way she had brushed past me, and the way she had practically declared war when we arrived at the apartment.

“No,” I admitted. “Not exactly. She has been acting strangely lately. Every time I speak to her, she finds a reason to argue with me.”

“Maybe she’s under pressure because of your families.”

I straightened. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Your families are powerful, Davis. People notice when two heirs spend time together. Maybe she thinks everyone expects something from her.”

“Nobody has arranged anything between us.”

The words came out too quickly.

I remembered my father’s comments about the Browns family. The way he kept talking about their territory, their businesses, and how useful a partnership between our families would be.

He had never directly told me to marry Rebecca, but he had mentioned her name often enough to make me wonder whether he had already imagined the possibility.

Harper sighed. “You don’t have to get defensive.”

“I’m not defensive.”

“Of course you aren’t.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Rebecca and I barely get along. Whatever people want to imagine, nothing is happening between us.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about.”

Something about her answer bothered me, though I couldn’t explain why.

I changed the subject. “When are you coming to the university?”

“Soon.”

“How soon?”

“I’m still making arrangements. I’ll let you know when everything is settled.”

“All right.”

“Promise me you’ll take care of yourself, Davis.”

I almost laughed. “I’m sharing an apartment with a woman who threatened to throw my clothes out of the window. I think I’ll be lucky if I survive the week.”

This time, Harper laughed properly.

“Try not to annoy her too much.”

“She’s the one annoying me.”

“I’m sure that’s what she thinks too.”

We ended the call a few minutes later. I stared at my phone before slipping it into my pocket.

Harper was supposed to be the one woman who understood me without making everything complicated.

Yet, somehow, I couldn’t stop thinking about Rebecca.

I pushed away from the wall and walked into the living room. The apartment was quiet, but the smell of her lavender perfume lingered in the air. I had noticed it when she passed me earlier, just before that strange spark ran through my body.

My wolf lifted its head.

Rebecca.

I clenched my jaw. “Stop it.”

My wolf ignored me.

I was about to sit down when her bedroom door opened.

Rebecca stepped out with a bag hanging from her shoulder. She wore fitted jeans, a simple top, and white sneakers. Her dark hair fell loosely around her face, and she was checking something on her phone as she walked toward the front door.

She looked ready to leave without saying a word.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

She didn’t look up. “Out.”

“That’s very informative.”

She stopped long enough to give me a flat look. “Do you need my full itinerary, Draven?”

“No. I was just wondering whether you’re planning to spend the entire day avoiding me.”

“That’s a sensible decision, don’t you think?”

I stared at her.

She turned back toward the door.

“Rebecca.”

“What?”

“What exactly have I done to you?”

Her fingers tightened around the strap of her bag.

For the first time since I had known her, she didn’t immediately throw an insult at me. She stood still, looking at me with an expression that made the irritation in my chest ease.

There was something painful in her eyes.

It wasn’t the usual annoyance I had grown accustomed to. It was deeper than that, and it made me feel as if I had walked into a room where someone had been crying just before I arrived.

I took a step toward her.

“I’m asking you a simple question,” I said, my voice quieter now. “You act like you hate me, but I don’t remember doing anything to deserve it.”

Her eyes moved over my face.

For a moment, I thought she was going to answer. Her lips parted slightly, and she looked as if she were fighting with herself over what to say.

My wolf became strangely quiet.

I wanted to reach for her hand. I wanted to make her look at me the way she had looked at me before everything changed, even though I had no idea when that moment had been.

Instead, I kept my hands at my sides.

Rebecca swallowed. “You really don’t understand, do you?”

“Understand what?”

She shook her head.

“Forget it.”

“No. You can’t keep doing this.” I stepped closer, leaving enough space between us for her to walk away if she wanted. “You can’t look at me like that, say things that make no sense, and expect me not to ask questions.”

Her gaze dropped briefly to the space between us before returning to my face.

“Maybe you should stop asking questions you aren’t ready to hear the answers to.”

I frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll understand eventually, Davis.”

Then she turned and opened the door.

“Rebecca, wait.”

She paused, her hand on the handle, but she didn’t turn around.

I wanted to ask her what she knew about me. I wanted to ask why she looked at me with so much hurt when, as far as I could remember, we had barely shared a proper conversation before this university program.

But the words wouldn’t come.

She walked out, and the door closed behind her.

I stood there for several seconds, staring at the empty doorway.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

I pulled it out, expecting another message from Harper.

It was her.

Harper: I’ve decided to come to the university earlier than planned. I’ll be there soon. I can’t wait to see you.

I read the message twice.

Harper was coming. The woman I believed was my fated mate, the woman everyone expected me to end up with, was finally going to be here.

I should have felt happy.

Instead, I looked toward the hallway where Rebecca had disappeared, remembering the way her voice had faltered when I asked what I had done to her.

My wolf stirred again, restless and unwilling to settle.

For the first time, I wondered whether the future I had always imagined was as certain as I had believed.